President Petro Poroshenko took part in the scientific-practical conference “Lessons of Hybrid War: Military Aspects” held in the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
“Providing an adequate response to the actions of the aggressor, we must summarize the experience achieved and predict future actions of the Russian Federation regarding our state. We should constantly search for efficient strategies of protection from “hybrid threats”. We must learn the lessons of this war, test and verify respective concepts of counteraction, improve national capacities and mutual compatibility with NATO,” the Head of State emphasized.
“Ukraine must have a NATO army before becoming a NATO member. We must define and secure strict compliance with legal and technical requirements to the production and provision of equipment with consideration of NATO standards,” the Head of State noted.
According to Petro Poroshenko, war against Ukraine is waged not only in the east, but also from any other possible direction. “It is not only an offensive and aggression on our borders. It is also an active information and propaganda warfare aimed at inciting discord, decadence and frustration inside Ukraine through lies about our country, its authorities, troops and people. The enemy is trying to switch its efforts to the destabilization of the internal situation in Ukraine,” the President stressed.
In the context of the economic aggression, the President recalled almost total termination of exports of Ukrainian goods to the Russian market. “Moscow’s desire to strangle us economically can be measured statistically. At the beginning of the decade, over 30% of Ukrainian exports went to the Russian market. In the first quarter of this year, its share equaled 8.5% with a tendency to further decline,” the Head of State informed. “When such market is closed without motivations, it is a huge shock for the economy and the welfare of people who worked for this market. We haven’t kneeled down only due to the opportunities provided by the Association Agreement with the EU,” Petro Poroshenko noted.
The Head of State believes that not only military, diplomatic or economic approaches are necessary for the settlement of the situation. “Hybrid war makes us continue providing asymmetric complex response to the threats. Defense from hybrid aggression must be hybrid as well,” Petro Poroshenko stressed. In this context, active defense making little sense for the enemy’s offensive and active diplomacy aimed at ensuring support for Ukraine and prolongation of international sanctions against the aggressor are required.
The President drew attention to the necessity of examining the opportunities of territorial defense of the state. “In case of aggression, the issue of territorial defense must be thoroughly examined with consideration of the experience of the last two years,” the Head of State noted. He also emphasized the necessity of guarding important state objects deep in our territory.
“Similarly, in case of a full-scale invasion, a plan of general mobilization and country’s operation under martial law must be polished. The fact that we do not announce general mobilization proves that the campaign of building a contract army is efficient,” the President said.
The Head of State instructed to draft decisions following the meeting and submit them for consideration by the NSDC and Government. “State defense is a task of not only the President and General Staff, but also every citizen of Ukraine,” the President concluded.